Last weekend we took our first trip in the Wish called Wanda to the Coromandel Peninsula, about two hours due east of Auckland. On a clear day, we can see the Coromandel from our office window, but it is on the other side of the Hauraki Gulf so you have to go south and then north to go east.
Our first stop was a hike out to Cathedral Cove. It is a popular destination even in winter and it is no wonder why. It is a beautiful location from the car to the beach. The trail rolls up and down along the coast for about 30 minutes before a set of stairs takes you down to the beach where white rock formations rise from the sea. The rock is called ignimbrite, a mixture of pumice and ash produced when volcanoes erupted 8 million years ago, that has since been weathered by wind and waves.
Part of the reason we decided to buy a Toyota Wish is because all the back seats fold flat and it is long enough for us to lay down in it, which could come in handy while we adventure around the country. New Zealand allows "Freedom Camping," which essentially allows you to camp on public land even if there isn't a designated campground. Some areas of the country are clamping down on this practice, though, because it has been abused. In areas where it is still allowed, though, Wanda can be our shelter.
Freedom camping is not allowed in many places on the Coromandel Peninsula, so we booked ourselves a spot at the local Holiday Park. We could sleep in Wanda but also had access to hot showers, toilets, and cooking facilities. We currently only have our sleeping bags and mats for camping gear, so this arrangement was perfect for our first outing.
We snuggled into our sleeping bags at 9 pm and I finally decided to get up around 8 am...so we will call it a success! We had the windows open for ventilation but had to close them during the night because it was quite cold outside. There was ice on the outside of the van when we got up!
After a leisurely start to our day, we continued our counter-clockwise loop around the Coromandel. The roads are narrow and winding, but the scenery is lovely. Green hills, native forest, beaches, and ocean all from one vantage point. Our goal for day 2 was to find some kauri trees for Pete. I had seen them on previous trips, but they were new giants to him.
The kauri is an ancient tree, evolving over 20 million years ago while New Zealand was still connected to Australia. The New Zealand kauri is only found at the northern end of the North Island and is one of three species of Agathis remaining in the world. The kauri is one of the largest and fastest growing trees in the world. Its ability to grow quickly is what has allowed it to survive amongst the more recently evolved trees, called angiosperms (almost all non-conifer trees in the U.S. are angiosperms...it means flowering/seed bearing tree). The kauri is the third largest tree in the world, after the two sequoia species (giant sequoia and redwood)that we know well from our time in California.
Like many hardwood tree species, the kauri was nearly logged into oblivion in the 1900s. One look at it will tell you why foresters loved this tree. It is tall, wide, straight, and the branches start very close to the crown. The grove we visited was spared for reasons largely unknown. Whatever the reason, these trees have reached their adolescence at the age of 600 years. They are beautiful trees and quite good for hugging.
Our first stop was a hike out to Cathedral Cove. It is a popular destination even in winter and it is no wonder why. It is a beautiful location from the car to the beach. The trail rolls up and down along the coast for about 30 minutes before a set of stairs takes you down to the beach where white rock formations rise from the sea. The rock is called ignimbrite, a mixture of pumice and ash produced when volcanoes erupted 8 million years ago, that has since been weathered by wind and waves.
the local charismatic megafauna (limpet)
This stretch of the coastal ocean is protected in a marine reserve.
Next time we will have to bring our snorkeling gear!
Next time we will have to bring our snorkeling gear!
We could have lingered at Cathedral Cove for hours, but our next stop was time critical. We hiked back to the car, drove about 15 minutes to our camping spot for the night, and then grabbed our shovels and towels and walked out to Hot Water Beach. The name is quite apt for this spot...or better yet it might be called Scalding Water Beach. This locale is one of a handful in New Zealand where hot water from thermal vents is pushed to the surface of the earth. The hot water usually mixes with ocean water immediately, but for a couple hours on either side of low tide, this hot water is flowing down the beach. What would any reasonable person do with all that hot water? Dig a hole and make your own spa pool, of course!
This place is a SCENE when low tide comes around. We arrived about an hour before low tide and there were already dozens of people lounging in their pools, others were still digging pools, and still others (like us) were taking in the scene while trying to find just the *right* place to dig a hole. The flow of hot water is really patchy so you cannot just dig a hole anywhere. But you don't want to infringe on someone else's pool or weaken their structure, so the whole process takes some time.
Walking along the beach to scope out our pool location was a bit surreal. We would walk along the beach with the sand cool under our feet and then all of a sudden we would hit a hot patch and have to run so we didn't burn our feet. The water is insanely hot! We finally settled on a place where we could balance the temperature of our pool using a stream of cool water on one side and hot water on the other. Our pool was partially dug out already, but we expanded and shored up the walls a bit to get the full experience. Regulating the temperature was a bit more finicky than we had hoped, but we did enjoy our very own spa pool on the beach, complete with a beautiful sunset.
Pete scoping out the scene and deciding if this
abandoned pool would suit our needs (it did not)
abandoned pool would suit our needs (it did not)
digging our pool
Part of the reason we decided to buy a Toyota Wish is because all the back seats fold flat and it is long enough for us to lay down in it, which could come in handy while we adventure around the country. New Zealand allows "Freedom Camping," which essentially allows you to camp on public land even if there isn't a designated campground. Some areas of the country are clamping down on this practice, though, because it has been abused. In areas where it is still allowed, though, Wanda can be our shelter.
Freedom camping is not allowed in many places on the Coromandel Peninsula, so we booked ourselves a spot at the local Holiday Park. We could sleep in Wanda but also had access to hot showers, toilets, and cooking facilities. We currently only have our sleeping bags and mats for camping gear, so this arrangement was perfect for our first outing.
We snuggled into our sleeping bags at 9 pm and I finally decided to get up around 8 am...so we will call it a success! We had the windows open for ventilation but had to close them during the night because it was quite cold outside. There was ice on the outside of the van when we got up!
cozy and warm in my pile of fleece and down
(my sleeping bag is my happy place!)
(my sleeping bag is my happy place!)
After a leisurely start to our day, we continued our counter-clockwise loop around the Coromandel. The roads are narrow and winding, but the scenery is lovely. Green hills, native forest, beaches, and ocean all from one vantage point. Our goal for day 2 was to find some kauri trees for Pete. I had seen them on previous trips, but they were new giants to him.
The kauri is an ancient tree, evolving over 20 million years ago while New Zealand was still connected to Australia. The New Zealand kauri is only found at the northern end of the North Island and is one of three species of Agathis remaining in the world. The kauri is one of the largest and fastest growing trees in the world. Its ability to grow quickly is what has allowed it to survive amongst the more recently evolved trees, called angiosperms (almost all non-conifer trees in the U.S. are angiosperms...it means flowering/seed bearing tree). The kauri is the third largest tree in the world, after the two sequoia species (giant sequoia and redwood)that we know well from our time in California.
Like many hardwood tree species, the kauri was nearly logged into oblivion in the 1900s. One look at it will tell you why foresters loved this tree. It is tall, wide, straight, and the branches start very close to the crown. The grove we visited was spared for reasons largely unknown. Whatever the reason, these trees have reached their adolescence at the age of 600 years. They are beautiful trees and quite good for hugging.
dried foliage from the kauri tree
They survived the logging, but a new danger is facing kauri trees in NZ. A fungus-like disease started killing kauris in 2008. The disease attacks the tree via the roots and disrupts its ability to carry food and water through its cells. At this point, nearly all kauris that get infected die. The disease is spread via soil so the Department of Conservation has a massive campaign going to get people to clean their shoes before visiting kauri habitat. We scrubbed our boots and disinfected them at the beginning of the trail at a DOC-installed station.
In addition to the kauri, NZ native forests are filled with all kinds of amazing trees and plants. NZ broke away from the super continent Gondwana 85 million years ago so many of its plant species evolved in isolation from other populations. As a result, many of the plants (and animals) are only found in NZ. The forests in NZ are classified as temperate, but they have the look and feel of a tropical forest. The tall trees, like kauri, form the canopy and hardy understory trees like palms and tree ferns fill in below. The ground is covered in ferns and shrubs and epiphytes climb nearly every vertical surface. Walking through the native bush feels like being dropped into a scene from Jurassic Park. A pterodactyl flying overhead would not seem strange at all.
native forest filled with ferns
tree fern with epiphytes on its trunk
A couple other sites from our trip...
Waiau Falls
Coromandel town mural
We made it back to Auckland without incident. It was great to get out of the city for the weekend! We will probably do some local adventuring for the next couple of weekends while we try to find a place for us and our container full of stuff to live.
